Binge On Maintenance
 

Hi guys! ... well i new here and i want to share some concerns ... A year ago i lost a ton of weight i went from 205 lbs to 110 lbs ... major weight loss, im currently at 110 lbs and im 5'5" 20 years old. The thing is i lost all that weight with a restrictive diet ... 800 cals a day ... ive lost my period and stuff (diagnosed with anorexia). I started to eat regularly everyday i hit from 1000 cals to 1500 cals ... excercising 45 to 60 minutes a day, 5 times a week (strenght and spinning workout). The thing is, before regularazing my diet my mom forced me to eat so i used to eat a lot on weekends and restrict on weekdays ... thnaks to that ive developed certain tendence to binge ... ive decided to get this over with .. but sometimes i want to "binge"
My question is, if i excersice and eat healthy from monday to saturday, will bingeing on sunday make me gain weight? ... maintain my weight?

PD: i havent got my period back yet .. and by bingeing i mean 3000 cals in a whole day max... sometimes lower ... everything is junk food or what i crave

i need help please!

While I can't answer your question with a definitive yes or no, I have to say that engaging in a regular binging activity such as you are describing is disordered eating. It sounds to me as though you are trading one eating disorder for another. Of course, that's only my opinion.

I guess what I would hope you would do is learn how to eat in a healthy manner throughout the week. Everyone occasionally overeats or eats for reasons other than hunger, as you can tell by reading the posts here. Many build additional calories into their weekend eating, but not, I don't think, 3,000 calories of junk food every Sunday.

Oh, honey, that is not a good maintenance strategy.

Listen to me: I have been through some of what you have. Twice in my life, I have lost over 100 pounds by dieting.

The first time I did it, I got down to the low 110s and I developed anorexia. Then, after a time, I couldn't sustain that way of living, my body rebelled and, feeling ravenous from long deprivation, my eating disorder evolved into bingeing. But I thought I was okay, in spite of the compulsive, out-of-control feeling each time I binged, because I wasn't throwing up or taking laxatives to purge. I didn't realize that some people purge through frenetic physical activity -- I've since seen this called "exercise bulimia," but at the time, which was decades ago, people didn't think you had bulimia unless you were puking. I started seeing a therapist, and stopped compulsively exercising, and just binged. And I regained the weight I'd lost, though slowly. Eventually, I stopped bingeing.

If some of this sounds familiar to you, my advice is to seek professional help, or if you've already done so, to tell that person honestly and openly exactly what you have said to us here.

The second time that I lost weight, I was very careful, I went into therapy, to have a sane impartial witness to what I was doing, and I decided not to weigh, measure or count calories. In contrast to the second round, when I could never be satisfied with how low my weight got, my goal weight instead was pretty high -- I'm overweight by most BMI calculators. But I weigh far less than I used to and I don't feel crazy. I did -- and I still do -- exercise a lot, but it's no longer about burning calories and I never try to calculate the burn or deficit.

I still do not think I am as balanced and healthy as some other people on this site, but I am not as miserable and driven as I was when in the depths of the differing varieties of eating disorders that I cycled through.

I also know that the people on this site who may understand best what you are coping with are in the forum here called Chicks in Control. You may also want to post there.

be careful! I lost weight by being very very strict with my eating (and exercising too). I flew past my goal of 137 all the way down to 120. In doing that I relapsed in my bulimia eating disorder, which was awful. it took me a year to recover again. I have had to allow my weight to come back to my early goal of 137, which now feels a bit chubby to me but I would rather be at this weight than go back to bingeing and purging. just please be very careful on how you go about this. I am waiting to be mentally stronger before I decide if I want to go ahead and try to lose a few pounds. but my first priority is not to relapse into an eating disorder.

You say your goal weight 95 and you are 5'5". If those numbers are right and you mean 95 pounds, that would be a very underweight goal weight. I would strongly recommend getting some medical advice about what is a healthy goal weight for you.

Many eating plans have a "cheat day," including the one Michele and I follow, which is called "Choose to Lose" and is a modified carb-cycling/calorie cycling plan. In that regard, restricting 6/7 days and eating off-plan the 7th is a reasonable approach to weight loss or maintenance (which one happens depends on whether you're aiming for 1000 or 1500 on the restricting days). However, I would echo the sentiments of other posters on this thread, to say that a weight of 110 pounds at 5'5" is already underweight, and aiming for 10 pounds lower tells me you have a distorted body image - you are seeing yourself as far heavier than you actually are. Almost all humans have an enormous drive to "binge" when they're starving, and not having your period is evidence that your body is severely undernourished. I agree with others who are telling you to get some professional help, and consider posting/reading the "Chicks in Control" sub-forum.

Good luck!

Short answer: No.

I don't count calories, but I'm guessing it's 1000-1500 during the week and 8000-10000 throughout the weekend.

I socially overeat and will see a gain Monday-Wednesday, but it’s back down by Friday. Plus, 3,000 is really NOT that much - that would be like half a cheesecake? :D

However, losing your period is NOT good. It could mean your body fat % is too low or your body might need time to readjust - you did lose almost 100lbs!! Wow.

I fluctuate from 96-100 and still have my period.